Childlike Enthusiasm for Cows

Our New York friends (who live full-time in Savanna Club, our retirement community in Florida) went to New York to see their family this summer.  On their way back to Florida, they stopped to visit us in Virginia.  Bobbie and Ron Steinberg grew up in the city and had never really been on a farm.

"Childlike enthusiasm" is something my family read about years ago and we use this expression to describe a person who is excited about life and its experiences.  Well, Bobbie definitely has childlike enthusiasm!  She couldn't get over our view of rolling hills and took lots of pictures. 

There are cows grazing on three sides of us and it was the greatest thing that every time a cow mooed, she laughed.  Now, every time I hear a moo, which is quite frequently, I chuckle inside and think of Bobbie.

Bobbie, Christie & Leonard as she gets an up-close and personal view of milking. 

Christie Rhodes explains how the milk goes in a glass tube to another room with a bulk tank.  The milk truck picks up twice a week.

Ron had seen milking before and stayed on the upper level.  I thought he was bored but later learned he had childlike enthusiasm as he watched the expressions on the cows' faces.

They use chopped corn as food for the cows and it is blown into these silos.

Lorena showed us a sample of silage.  It smelled sour, not rotten but kind of pickled.

People in the Shenandoah Valley have green thumbs, raising lots of vegetables and beautiful flowers.  Cheri (my weeding assistant) and Christie in front of some of their flowers.

MaryMay with her adopted family -- Cheri, Christie, Lorena, and Grant Rhodes.  Morgan and Linden were off to buy a stronger blower for the silos.

Horses?  Yes we saw horses, too.

On to see the chicken house where their 6,000 hens, with the help of 600 roosters, produce fertile eggs.

Cousin Stashia's hands were busy sorting, even while she explained and answered questions.

During the peak, Stashia gathers eggs at least 6 times a day.

She had sorted upteen thousand eggs that day...so far.

Bobbie and Ron took us to the Blue Stone Inn, a unique restaurant with delicious food, where you can always eat under a buck.

It is with childlike enthusiasm that I can say we really enjoyed Bobbie and Ron's visit and we were honored that they came to see us.